Referring to FIG. 1, computer systems generally include a motherboard (10), which has, among other elements, a central processing unit (CPU) (12), memory (14), and a plurality of slots (16) for receiving circuit cards designed to perform specific functions. Computer system components are generally connected via buses (18), i.e., an electrically-conductive path traced along the motherboard. These buses are used for data transfer among the components. Further, power is delivered to the motherboard through a power connection (20). Then, depending on the component, power is supplied indirectly from the motherboard (10) or directly via a power connection on the component,
While it is generally cost effective to have most of the circuitry on a single large motherboard for desktop computers, such a configuration has certain drawbacks that are particularly important to industrial applications. Because the motherboard is usually thin and large enough to flex, breakage of small traces and solder joints on fine pitch surface mount devices may occur when plug-in boards are inserted. The occurrence of such breakage requires motherboard replacement, which requires complete disassembly and reassembly of the computer system.
Particularly in industrial applications, such disassembly and reassembly, and the accompanying downtime, may be unacceptable. Also, given the rapid development of motherboard technology, finding an exact replacement for a motherboard can be difficult or impossible. Further, substitution of a non-exact replacement may cause software problems due to BIOS changes, changing device drivers, and different timing. Thus, standard specifications have been developed for systems and boards for use in industrial and telecommunications computing applications.
These standard specifications allow there to be a combination of components from different manufacturers in a single computer system. ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) is a bus specification that is based on that used in the IBM PC/XT and PC/AT. PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) is a local bus specification developed for 32-bit or 64-bit computer system interfacing. Most modern computers have both an ISA bus for slower devices and a PCI bus for devices that need better bus performance. Another specification, VME (VersaModule Eurocard bus) is a 32-bit bus widely used in industrial, commercial, and military applications. VME64 is an expanded version that provides 64-bit data transfer and addressing.
The PCI-ISA passive backplane standard defines backplane and connector standards for plug-in passive backplane CPU boards that bridge to both PCI and ISA buses. The PCI-ISA passive backplane standard moves all of the components normally located on the motherboard to a single plug-in card. The motherboard is replaced with a xe2x80x9cpassive backplanexe2x80x9d that only has connectors soldered to it. Referring to FIG. 2, a typical backplane (22) having a plurality of plug-in slots (24) is shown. CompactPCI is a specification for PCI-based industrial computers that is electrically a superset of PCI with a different physical form factor. CompactPCI uses the Eurocard form factor popularized by the VME bus.
There are two types of xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d boards: universal signaling environment and universal slot location. Universal signaling environment means that a board can operate in either a 3.3V or 5V bus backplane. With the original PCI specification, it was possible to select a value for the bus pull-up resistor that satisfied the specification for both the 3.3V and 5V signaling environments. With the CompactPCI Specification, it is no longer possible to select a single resistor. Therefore, in order for a CompactPCI board to be capable of operating in a universal signaling environment, the board must provide both 2.7K ohm (+/xe2x88x925%) and 1.0K ohm (+/xe2x88x925%) pull-up resistors and provide a way to enable them correctly depending on the signaling environment,
Universal slot location describes a board that can function in either the system slot or the non-system slot of a CompactPCI backplane. A system slot board is required to provide the common bus resources for the CompactPCI backplane, namely: bus pull-ups, bus clock, and the bus arbiter. A system slot board is allowed additional capacitive load per signal pin because of these additional features.
In the past, CompactPCI boards were inserted and extracted manually with power removed from the CompactPCI backplane. In certain modern systems however, cards can be removed from or inserted into the backplane while the system is running, i.e., the cards can be xe2x80x9chot-swapped.xe2x80x9d The CompactPCI bus architecture supports the hot swapping of cards from the backplane. In order to be CompactPCI Hot Swap Specification compliant, every signal pin must be biased to (1V +/xe2x88x9220%) through a minimum 10K ohm resistor prior to insertion into a live or xe2x80x9chotxe2x80x9d backplane.
With the introduction of the hot swap technology, CompactPCI boards can be inserted and extracted while maintaining power to the backplane with no damage to the boards that are either already plugged into the backplane or about to be inserted or extracted. Additionally, insertion and extraction of the CompactPCI card shall cause no major disruption, data corruptions, etc., to the running system, and all the CompactPCI cards that are already inserted into the backplane. Historically, in developing CompactPCI hot swap boards, large amounts of manual intervention is required to insert/extract the boards multiple times and in different orders in order to thoroughly test the robustness of the hot swap characteristics of the boards in both hardware and software.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other requirements exist in the full CompactPCI specification, Hot Swap Specification, Passive Backplane PCI-ISA Specification, all of which are available from PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group of Wakefield, Mass.
In general, in one aspect, the present invention involves a system for testing insertion and extraction of a hot-swappable card comprising an automatic positioning station that inserts the hot-swappable card into a backplane and extracts the hot-swappable card from the backplane; and a controller that directs the operation of the automatic positioning station and determines whether the hot-swappable card is functioning when inserted into the backplane.
In general, in one aspect, the present invention involves a method of testing insertion and extraction of a hot-swappable card comprising inserting the hot-swappable card into a backplane; determining whether the hot-swappable card is functioning when inserted in the backplane; and extracting the hot-swappable card from the backplane.
In general, in one aspect, the present invention involves a software tool for use in testing of a hot-swappable card insertion and extraction comprising a processor; memory in communication with the processor; and software residing in the memory and executable on the processor for instructing an automatic positioning station to insert the hot-swappable card into a backplane and extract the hot-swappable card from the backplane; and determining whether the hot-swappable card is functioning when inserted in the backplane.
In general, in one aspect, the present invention involves an apparatus for testing of a hot-swappable card insertion and extraction comprising a backplane, an automatic positioning station, and a computer. The backplane comprises a plurality of slots for receiving cards. The automatic positioning station is for inserting and extracting the hot-swappable card into the plurality of slots in the backplane. The computer is in communication with the backplane and the automatic positioning system and comprises a processor; memory; and software residing on the memory and executable on the processor. The software is for directing the automatic positioning station to insert and extract the hot-swappable card; and determining whether the hot-swappable card is functioning when inserted into the backplane.
In general, in one aspect, the present invention involves an apparatus for testing of a hot-swappable card insertion and extraction comprising means for inserting the hot-swappable card into a backplane; means for determining whether the hot-swappable card is functioning when inserted in the backplane; and means for extracting the hot-swappable card from the backplane.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims.